Feature Article

Screen Education Teachers hit the red carpet at Lucas Life Achievement Award

I-Poly goes Hollywood
Reprinted from Channels, a publication from the Los Angeles County Office of Education

Two teachers from LACOE's I-Poly High School in Pomona recently got an ovation from the audience at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood during an American Film Institute event. The occasion was the 33rd AFI Life Achievement Award gala honoring filmmaker George Lucas on June 9.

Among the invited guests were 50 county teachers who have worked with the AFI's screen education program. That included the two I-Poly teachers, Sean Daly and Lorelei Ortega. "It was an incredible honor having George Lucas and AFI applauding me and my colleagues," Daly recalled. "Everyone turned their attention to us and either waved or applauded. It was an honor I never thought I would experience as a teacher." Daly's colleague, Lorelei Ortega, emphatically agreed. "It's not every day that people outside education take a genuine interest in what teachers and students do. I felt incredibly flattered to be involved in a huge exception to that rule. How often do teachers get to attend a black-tie event in their professional lives? No, chaperoning a prom doesn't count." The AFI Screen Education Program, which I-Poly helped to pilot, teaches students to examine film as art instead of entertainment and guides them in filming a scene from a literary classic. Coursework correlates to state and national content standards and ties in the study of literature to history, social studies and other core subjects.

Screen Education teachers Lorelei Ortega, Sean Daly, Barbara Barkemeyer & Stephanie Mayer and other Screen Educators at the 33rd AFI Life Achievement Award honoring George Lucas at the Kodak Theater in June.